Russian Lesbian Writer Fired:
Ignored Putin's Flying Cranes Stunt

 My history with out Russian lesbian journalist and public intellectual Masha Gessen, pictured, stretches back the late 1980s when we were involved with several East Coast chapters of ACT UP, when she and her family resided in the United States.

In the early 1990s, with the Soviet Union still standing, if wobbly, she brought pioneering Russian gay activist Roman Kalinin to America for a speaking tour. We collaborated on Kalinin's visit to Washington, DC, including an event at the old Lambda Rising Bookstore.

Since her return to Russia, I've followed her journalistic career and criticism of Vladimir Putin, admiring her courage in speaking truth to a terrifying power known for killing political opponents and assassinating reporters.

Gessen is making international headlines for refusing to cover another stunt of Putin's, pictured. The Moscow Times has the details:

The Vokrug Sveta (Around the World) travel monthly terminated its contract with Gessen seven months after she got the job because, she said, she refused to send a reporter to cover an expedition where Putin would release some endangered Siberian cranes.

"I'm leaving Vokrug Sveta #thankputinforthat," Gessen wrote on her Twitter on Monday.

The official reason for the contract termination is "a disagreement over the separation of powers between the editorial and the management," she told Kommersant-FM. She said the management had asked her to send a reporter to cover the expedition but she had objected.

Siberian cranes, known for their snow-white feathers, are the most critically endangered of the world's 15 crane species, with only 3,200 birds thought to exist in the wild. Gessen said in the interview that she did want to write about Siberian cranes — but without Putin.

Gessen, who authored a Putin biography titled "The Man Without a Face," is a renowned critic of the Kremlin and a columnist for The New York Times.

Googling for news of Gessen that mention either gay or lesbian, as in she is out about her lesbianism and that a lesbian journalist has been fired thanks to Putin, turns up zero results. There are dozens of English-language article about getting sacked, with none reporting on the L word part of her identity. Her blog at the New York Times site also omits mention of her being a lesbian, and so far she has not written about her firing on that blog.

Obscuring Gessen's out lesbian status in the the widespread coverage is troubling, a point I would hope to find agreement on with her.

Huge Rainbow Over Market Street
Stuns SF Queers for 11 Minutes 

If you believe the queen who was hailing the double rainbows that flashed over San Francisco's intersection at Market, Laguna and Guerrero Streets tonight around 7:30-ish, the vision in the sky was "a message from the Goddess". Notice there's the faintest shaft of the double rainbow on the left above the crane sticking out over the tree. Nice to see the Folsom Fair banner in the picture.

From her apartment high over the Little Hollywood laundromat, the full voiced queen loudly proclaimed, "Everyone, look at the rainbows in the sky! They're a message from the Goddess!" I was on the sidewalk under her window when I heard her voice and looked up in the sky. What else for me to do other than raise my hands up and behold the wonder before me.

A message from Judy Garland? Makes absolute queer and irrefutable sense to me. What that message was though is anybody's guess. I was there to witness this fantasia of color and cool fog and the sky at twilight with my own eyes and the lens of my camera. Everyone at that crazy corner was stunned and feeling a connection to the planet and each other. If you were holding a camera, strangers asked if you wanted them to take a photo of you with the rainbow backdrop.

My whole body felt a vast and beautiful energy emanating from the rainbow, thrilled to be alive and aware to experience this gift. Who needs Burning Man and the dust of the playa to trip out on the universe and lift? My heart's desire was found no further than my own backyard. There's no place like home in queer San Francisco.

This was snapped in front of the laundromat, a bit up from the intersection and gives you an idea of the enormity of the rainbow arc and far it stretched. All praises to our Goddess for giving me the present of this fabulous show of colored lights in the sky!

From our sacred song of hope and love:

Somewhere, over the rainbow, skies are blue,
And the dreams that you dare to dream really do come true.

Yes, they do.

Castro Nudists Protest
SFPD's 'Cock Ring Patrol'

The human body is one magnificent and beautiful creation, and I am a proud supporter of the nudists who hang out in and parade around the Castro District. Even before Mike and I were redistricted into District 8, we appreciated the promotion of nudity in the streets and now that we're D8 voters we urge Supervisor Scott Wiener to instruct the San Francisco Police Department to leave the naked guys alone.

Today, my friend and longtime nudist Mitch Hightower sent out this alert about the latest crackdown on bare butt boys. Hightower also informs us that there will be a Nude-In on Saturday, September 22, the day before the enormous Folsom Street Fair where there will be thousands of nudists and kinksters of all sexual orientations.

Here's the release from Hightower:

The San Francisco Police Department has begun regularly dispatching groups of uniformed officers from the Mission Station to the Castro Commons Plaza, (aka Jane Warner Plaza), on Cock Ring Patrol.   

Those frequenting the area report that either a duo or trio of cops approach selected male nudists and inform them that wearing cock rings draws undue attention to the genitals, and is therefore, under the law, considered to be lewd conduct.  Nudists, even those not wearing a cock ring at the time, are also informed that they will face arrest if caught wearing a cock ring and will subsequently be required to register as a sex offender.   

Inquiries for comment from the Mission Station about the SFPD Cock Ring Patrol remain unanswered.  One male nudist reported that over the Labor Day Weekend he was approached by police and told that his hat was drawing undue attention and therefore his public nudity was lewd.

The third annual NUDE IN Body Freedom Demonstration was already scheduled for Saturday, September 22 at Noon, (the day before the Folsom Street Fair), before these developments and NUDE IN organizers are encouraging supporters and attendees to wear hats and cock rings to challenge the lewd conduct assertions.

$300K-Plus Club:
12 Gay & AIDS Executives' Pay

As I've campaigned in recent months for every LGBT and HIV/AIDS nonprofit to post a minimum of 3-5 years of IRS 990s, and examined many tax returns for our advocacy and service organization, the number of executive directors who've broken the $300,000 salary ceiling in the past few years was a small surprise to discover.

Here are the highest-compensated executives, ranked by their last known or reported annual salary:

1. Gail Barouh: $421,200
2. Kevin Frost: $388,000
3. Michael Weinstein: $380,000

4. Chad Griffin: $379,000
5. Craig Shniderman: $374,000
6. Lorri Jean: $364,000
7. Morris Dees: $343,000
8. Richard Cohen: $339,000
9. Karen Pearl: $318,000
10. Joe Solmonese: $306,400
11. Kevin Cathcart: $300,200
12. Jerome Radwin: $300,000

Below are abbreviated fiscal profiles, arranged alphabetically, on the executives and the agencies they lead or ran before stepping down and moving on to another job. I've included three years' worth of their reported compensation and the agency's revenue, along with cumulative totals of salaries.

Transparency grades are also given, to praise the groups that post 990s on their sites and to publicize those that post a paltry single return or zero 990s, to spur them to get with the transparency program.

The Southern Poverty Law Center's leaders, because while not an LGBT organization per se, their executives included because SPLC vacuums up more and more funds from gay donors and plays an increasing role in gay advocacy.

The members of the $300K-Plus Club:

Gail Barouh

BiasHelp
Salary: 2008 / 2009 / 2010 (Revenue)
$72,200 ($668K) / $106,500 ($568K) / Pro Bono ($342K)
[Salary subtotal: $178,700]

Long Island Association for AIDS Care
Salary: 2008 / 2009 / 2010 Pay (Revenue)
$283,300 ($6.3M) / $363,200 ($5.6M) / $296,200 ($5.7M)
[Salary subtotal: $942,700]

Long Island Network of Community Services
Salary: 2008 / 2009 / 2010 Pay (Revenue)
$54,000 ($540,000) / $57,000 ($426,000) / $125,000 ($981,000)
[Salary subtotal: $236,000]

Current total salary: $421,200
Cumulative salary, all three agencies combined: $1,357,400

Transparency grade: D. One year's 990 on-website.

Kevin Cathcart

Lambda Legal
Salary: 2009 / 2010 / 2011 (Revenue)
$289,400 ($20.7M) / $287,100 ($11.9M) / $300,200 ($11.9M)
[Cumulative salary: $876,700]

Transparency grade: B. Three years' 990s on-website.

Richard Cohen

Southern Poverty Law Center; 2009 and 2010, and 2011
Salary: 2009 / 2010 / 2011 (Revenue)
$345,000 ($15.4M) / $341,000 ($34.8M) / $339,000 ($38.7M)
[Cumulative salary: $1,025,000]

Transparency grade: D. One years' 990 on-website.

Morris Dees

Southern Poverty Law Center; 2009 and 2010, and 2011
Salary: 2009 / 2010 / 2011 (Revenue)
$348,000 ($15.4M) / $345,000 ($34.8M) / $343,000 ($38.7M)
[Cumulative salary: $1,036,000]

Transparency grade: D. One year's 990 on-website.

Kevin Frost

AMFAR IRS 990s
Salary: 2009 / 2010 / 2011 (Revenue)
$310,000 ($20.4M) / $326,300 ($25.3M) / $388,000 ($27.3M)
[Cumulative salary: $1,024,300]

Transparency grade: C. Three years' 990s on-website.

Chad Griffin

Human Rights Campaign Disclosure
Salary: 2012 (Revenue)  
$379,000 (Estimated $44M)
[Cumulative salary: $379,000]

Transparency grade: B. Four years' 990s on-website.

Lorri Jean

Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center
Salary: 2009 / 2010 / 2011 (Revenue)
$301,100 ($45.2M) / $371,100 ($46.4M) / $364,000 ($53.4M)
[Cumulative salary: $1,036,200]

Transparency grade: F. Zero 990s on-website.

Karen Pearl

God's Love We Deliver IRS 990s; 2009 and 2010; and 2011
Salary: 2009 / 2010 / 2011 (Revenue)
$278,000 ($8.6M) / $298,000 ($9.3M) / $318,000 ($12.8M)
[Cumulative salary: $894,000]

Transparency grade: D. One year's 990 on-website.

Jerome Radwin

AMFAR IRS 990s
Salary: 2008 / 2009 / 2010 (Revenue)
$365,300 ($30.4M) / $482,000 ($20.4M) / $300,000 ($25.3M)
[Cumulative salary: $1,147,300]

Transparency grade: C. Three years' 990s on-website.

Craig Shniderman

Food and Friends IRS 990s
Salary: 2008 / 2009 / 2010 (Revenue)
$380,000 ($7.7M) / $598,000* ($6.9M) / $374,000 ($7.4M) 
[Cumulative salary: $1,088,000]

*$264,000 of compensation was previously reported in 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008 returns, and does not represent compensation in 2009, as reported in the tax return.

Transparency grade: A. Five years' 990s on-website.

Joe Solmonese

Human Rights Campaign IRS 990s
Salary: 2009 / 2010 / 2011 (Revenue)
$303,000 ($34.6M) / $283,700 ($39.7M) / $306,400 ($42.2)
[Cumulative salary: $893,100]

Transparency grade: B. Four years' 990s on-website.

Michael Weinstein

AIDS Healthcare Foundation IRS 990s; 2009 and 2010; and 2011
Salary: 2009 / 2010 / 2011 (Revenue)
$372,000 ($79.7M) / $370,000 ($97.2M) / $380,000 ($141.8M)
[Cumulative salary: $1,122,000]

Transparency grade: F. Zero 990s on-website.

'Faggots' Hit at Milk Plaza
by Drugged Homeless Woman in June

Over at the page for the Bay Area Reporter's story about a recent meeting convened to weigh options for reclaiming Harvey Milk Plaza, from the hostile homeless folks who frequently sleep out and hangout there, a number of comments have been left from gay men who luckily have never been hassled or assaulted in that public space.

Let's go over some of the one-sided comments

From Andy Blue: I have never once in 15 years felt the least bit threatened, intimidated, endangered, or even bothered by anyone hanging out there. Not once.

Jim Youll says: I have never been threatened, intimidated, or even slightly concerned walking through there. And I'm short, lightweight, and not particularly threatening to anyone. I feel less safe walking through the plaza when it's empty of people... much less safe.

Good for them in that they've not been hassled, but they would be wise to acknowledge others have not been so lucky. For my partner Mike and I, we have been intimidated and Mike was assaulted in the plaza in the daytime. In early June, we were on way to the Castro Theatre to catch the Sunday matinee showing of the restored print of Jean Renoir's classic anti-war film "Grand Illusion".

We came down from the Collingwood side of the plaza holding hands, and as we approached the first purple bench on the left just passed the base of the rainbow flag, the four guys on the bench strung out on either drink or downs called us "faggots". On the right sprawled out on the sidewalk against the railing was an equally high woman, and she forcefully assaulted Mike's feet and calves with her hands and feet.

We told them to stop what the eff they were doing and these homeless folks, all about age thirty with signs asking for spare change and backpacks, just laughed and called us "faggots" again as we headed toward Market Street. I'm mentioning this episode to remind the defenders of the homeless who are hostile and do intimidate other people that Mike and I want to stroll through Harvey Milk Plaza, and not be called faggots or assaulted.

There is a lot of destructive behavior from some of the homeless people hanging out in or passing through HMP and the general vicinity, behavior directed at other people or at public property such as the kiosk toilet last week. As any reader of this blog knows, I also believe there is much outrageous abuse of public space in the form of who controls the public rainbow flag, and the behavior of the hostile homeless and the Merchants of Upper Castro Market must be on the agenda about how to improve this plaza.

My successful small campaign to rid this public space of the health hazard of the disease-riddled pigeon poop, and prevent birds from leaving their excrement, continues with my latest complaint filed last week with the Department of Public Health.

I believe the condo owners at 2425 Market Street, whose entrance is smack dab in the middle of plaza, have for years been in violation of public health law in that they have allowed pigeons to roost on their cement facade that abuts the back of the Diesel store, and the droppings landing on the public sidewalk. That the nub of my DPH complaint.

A DPH employee informed me last week that they have inspected the location and notices for correction have gone out to the condo owners and the management at Diesel, and that correction in DPH-speak mean clean up the encrusted pigeon poop within the next two weeks.

(Pigeons creating a health menace on the hand railing of HMP. Five feet above the railing is the cement facade of the condos, where more birds roost and poop.)

It amazes me we have all permitted the intolerable health risks of having so much damn bird feces, full of potential harm to people with AIDS, befouling the plaza's public spaces, the news rack tops, the highly visible rainbow banner on a utility pole, the railing near where the condo complex meets the Diesel shop and the complex's facade.

And with two complaints, simple steps to reclaim Harvey Milk Plaza back from the birds and their stinky, disgusting poop have been taken by city agencies and Castro Inc to make the plaza more hospitable for more people.

To make this historic public space as fabulous and as welcoming as it needs to be for a diverse number of populations, we must tell destructive homeless folks to stop trashing toilets and assaults when they occur, place the rainbow flag under the control of genuine community-and-city based group of stakeholders and ensure Tippi Hedren can visit Harvey Milk Plaza and not get shat upon.

NYT: Silence = Death
Button is a Top Historical Object

The New York Times yesterday ran a feature titled "A History of New York in 50 Objects" and one items included was an old metallic Silence = Death button from ACT UP. My friend and ACT UP member Bill Dobbs provided the Times with the button, pictured, on which you can see scratches. Here's an excerpt from the Gray Lady's caption:

In 1982, 752 cases of a mysterious and fatal illness that would be called Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome were reported in New York City. By 2010, nearly 170,000 cases had been diagnosed. Over 30 years, the illness devastated whole communities even as it served as a focal point for the gay rights movement, especially Act Up, which campaigned vigorously against the government’s slow response to the epidemic . . .

As a co-founder of ACT UP, I must point out that while there were many gays and lesbians in the group and we had a pro-gay agenda, our ranks were filled with lots of straight people infected with HIV or affected by the epidemic. It is not okay to render the heterosexual folks of ACT UP invisible.

I also object to the Times so narrowly defining ACT UP's agenda in the caption. Yes indeed, we were rightfully pissed off at our government's woefully inadequate handling of the medical and political crises. However, we also had to contend with the media, especially the Times due to its far-reaching influence, either ignoring the AIDS epidemic or underplaying the severity of it.

Attention to people with AIDS and the crisis in the Times was so bad, a protest was held at the home of the publisher, which I was at. Excerpts from Doug Ireland's August 8, 1989, Press Clips column in the Village Voice:

[L]ast Tuesday, 150 members of ACT UP demonstrated on front of New York Times publisher Punch Sulzberger's residence at 1010 Fifth Avenue and then marched to West 43rd Street.

This demo was preceded by a Sunday zap in which outlines of dead bodies were stenciled on the streets around Sulzberger's pad, and the neighborhood decorated with stickers emblazoned, "All the News That Kills." By the time ACT UP's troops arrived for Tuesday's picketing, they found the sidewalk in front of chez Sulzberger torn up and barricaded, and a waiting army of police who forced the demonstrators onto a side street . . . 

"AIDS Crisis Escalates While N.Y. Times Sleeps" was the headline on the leaflet ACT UP distributed, which asked: "Why, instead of actively investigating the work of federal health organizations, does the Times merely rewrite [their] press releases? ... Such compliance makes the Times a mere public relations agent for an ineffective government.... Why did the Times, in its June 29 editorial (Why Make AIDS Worse Than It Is?) dismiss a new federal study finding a 33% under-reportage of AIDS infections in the US? This callous editorial assured its general readership that AIDS will be over soon, once infected members of undesirable risk groups die off." . . .

During the many terrible years when the paper didn't give a damn about people with HIV/AIDS and those who loved and cared for them, the criticism against the Times was not confined to just the alternative Village Voice. In the 1990 book "AIDS Demo Graphics" by Douglas Crimp and Adam Rolston, these facts were prominently mentioned:

A book will one day be written about the New York Times's continuous failure to report the AIDS crisis accurately -- if at all. It will no doubt begin with the infamous comparison noticed by Larry Kramer: 

• During the first 19 months of the AIDS epidemic (by the end of which time there had been 891 reported cases), the Times carried seven articles about it, none of them on the front page. 

• During the three months of the Tylenol scare in 1982 (seven cases), the Times carried fifty-four articles about it, four of them on the front page.

While it's certainly good to see the Silence = Death button included on the list of historical New York City objects, let's not quietly accept the New York Times absolving itself of how it was the necessary target of ACT UP's ire.  

Weekend Woof # 5:
Sexi Papi, Blond Busker & STR8 BF

Happy Labor Day Weekend, everyone! Hope you're enjoying yourself today, as I am in San Francisco on a sunny fantastic day. After getting up these photos, I'm off for another bike ride and picture-snapping around town. Here are more photos of guys appealing to my queer eye.

This sexy Mexican-American Papi is always sweet-talking his lady customers, but when I come along it's time to switch roles and I sweet-talk him about his big, hard wares and great smile. Papi's stall is where I purchase some of our veggies.

Dean, a young blond Dylanesque singer busking at the UN Plaza farmers' market today near Larkin Street. First time I saw him a the market. He got a donation and loud applause from me because, as I told him, he had a great twang when he sang.

My straight boyfriend Josh, sitting at Cafe Flore in the Castro more than two-years ago. We recently went on a date to eat Japanese noodles and catch "Drugstore Cowboy" at the Pacific Film Archive. Believe it or not, I'd never seen this Gus van Sant movie - until Josh invited me to see it with him. One more reason why the Goddess invented straight boyfriends - so we can watch more queer cinema in a theater setting.

Transparency Rating:
NOM, 4 vs. Freedom to Marry, Zero

(Screengrab showing NOM currently shares four 990s on their site. No written necessary for public inspection.)

Put aside the respective agendas of Evan Wolfson and his gay marriage group Freedom to Marry, and Brian Brown of the oppositional National Organization for Marriage, because I want to focus on the matter of transparency at both groups.

Almost two-years back, I blogged about FTM not having any 990s posted on their site and it was due to the fact that it lacked its own tax exempt status from the IRS, and that the Astrea Foundation was FTM's fiscal sponsor. Wolfson said:

We are on the verge of reconstituting Freedom to Marry as an independent 501c3 and 501c4, pending IRS certification, at which point we will handle our own disclosure . . . But any suggestion that NOM is in the least bit transparent is laughable, given their consistent effort to subvert disclosure laws, their phonying up of their reports, and their massive flood of money from hidden donors. 

FTM now has 501c3 and 501c4 tax statuses, and each arm of the group now has filed their first and only IRS 990s, however, in a surprising act of opaqueness FTM doesn't post them on-site. At their annual reports page, pictured, FTM states one has to file a written request in order to inspect the 990s. Any suggestion that Wolfson can keep his 990s off-site and still claim transparency is laughable.

I requested and received copies of FTM's 990s and shared them with three veteran gay journalists, asking them to comment on any aspect of the returns.

Duncan Osborne of Gay City News weighed in electoral battles:

I do wonder if an organization that relies entirely on large donors and has a single purpose can be sustained, but I am not an expert on such things and it may be that getting all your cash from a small number of people is par for the course for an organization of this size. If you add up the listed individual contributions, you'll see that Freedom to Marry's money came from a few dozen people.

There will be four marriage votes on November 6. Suppose we do badly on that day. What does an organization that is dedicated exclusively to marriage do then? As you know, our record on referenda going back to 1978 is that we have lost more than eight out of 10 and we have lost every marriage vote. If we win half the votes on November 6, that will be impressive. If we do better than that, that will be very impressive.

From Andy Humm, who hosts the weekly TV cable show Gay USA, comes this analysis:

That all of these 501(c)4 groups are able to hide their donor list is a disgrace across the board left and right. These are the new centers of political spending in America--not corporations under Citizens United. Why would corporations make direct political expenditures when they can anonymously contribute to a 501(c)4--whether it's run by Wolfson or Rove.

One of the things FTM's 990s tell us is that handful of wealthy people want their gay kids to be able to marry and pass their estates on without tax consequences.

We know Paul Singer gives them money. Maybe David Koch does too. They support gay marriage, but these are two of the most destructive people in America today with a main agenda of eliminating taxes and regulations and enslaving the middle class and poor. Their contributions to FTM do not in the least offset all the money that they give to the anti-gay Republicans who are running Congress and the state legislatures.

Do we not have ANY larger vision of social justice in America? [Bolding added, because it was necessary. -MP]

And independent gay and AIDS reporter Bob Roehr gives us his views about all of this:

I'm all for greater transparency and not being able to hide contributions, but that's very much a separate issue; FTM seems to be operating completely within current law and practice and on that count there is nothing for me to get upset about. 

On Duncan's point, most of the national gay groups have not developed a broad base of support and rely upon foundation and/or corporate support for a larger portion of their revenue than I would be comfortable with. 

Some of the major funders have decided to invest in Evan. Sometimes he goes to them with specific proposal for additional "investment" in a specific state campaign, but most often they are supporting his vision. The people behind it realize it is a long haul. I think Evan would be completely happy to win all of the battles and close the organization, and do something else. 

Many thanks to Osborne, Humm and Roehr for sharing their perspectives. Allow me to close by saying not only do I want FTM and NOM posting their IRS 990s on-site, I believe all non-profits should do so if they wish to claim they are genuinely transparent. 

Weekend Woof #4:
SF Men and Mormon Boys on the Street

My latest batch of Weekend Woof pics are published for your queer viewing pleasure. As always, thanks to the guys for permitting to grab photos of them out and about on the streets and in the plazas of San Francisco.

Dominic, at the UN Plaza farmers' market. He once worked at the SF Human Rights Commission and is a total sweetie.

Joe, taking an organic, wood oven-cooked pizza out of the oven. He was happy to pose for me and asked that I mention his foodstand is at the market every Wednesday. Stop by and eat one his delicious tomato pies.

Bryce, preparing to toss the organic pizza dough up into the air. Much more shy than his colleague Joe, but gentle coaxing got him to smile for my camera.

Two Mormon recruiters, hitting the market and dutifully walking their bikes through UN Plaza. If only other bikers were as considerate of shoppers crowding the food stalls. I never pass up the chance to speak with these young men, in part, because they are well-versed in chatting - even with known homosexuals. One day, I will coax one of them into the gay lifestyle!

This handsome fireplug was politicking outside the SF gay community center for a Haight District candidate for the Board of Supervisors. I hope to see him shirtless at the Folsom Street Fair on September 23. Don't forget that Folsom is one week early this year and it's gonna be the best ever.

No Sept SF Sunshine Meeting;
Wiener Succeeds in Killing the Panel?

 (Screengrab from SOTF shows 7 cancelled meetings since June.)

On Thursday, when open government advocate Patrick Monette-Shaw made me aware of the decision by the Sunshine Ordinance Task Force, I took it as another sign that Supervisor Scott Wiener was succeeding in his quest to kill the SOTF. Since there was no explanation on the SOTF site regarding the cancellation, I asked its administrator Andrea Ausberry for detail on Friday morning.

At 5:03 pm yesterday, a Friday afternoon before a long holiday weekend (talk about burying bad news when no one is paying attention!), Ausberry sent me a link to this note dated August 31, a full day after the SOTF simply said the September meeting wouldn't take place:

Dear Members of the Public, 

We wanted to make sure you were kept in the loop as to the cancellation of our September meeting. As of today, we are still in violation of the Sunshine Ordinance, Section 67.30. Therefore, I cancelled the September 5, 2012 meeting. The Board of Supervisors has been on recess for the month of August. 

The Rules Committee meets on September 6, 2012 and will address our issues from the letter I sent on behalf of the Task Force on July 16, 2012. Applicants recommended by the Rules Committee, will be forwarded to the Board for approval on September 18, 2012. 

I will keep you abreast of any developments as they occur. 

Respectfully yours, 
Kitt Grant, SOTF Chair

The cancelled September meeting of the full board of the SOTF brings the total of cancelled full board and committees to eight since Wiener launched his effort to eviscerate and kill the panel.

Where are the protestations from Wiener's colleagues on the Board of Supervisors, especially the progressives David Campos and John Avalos? Campos and Avalos are up for reelection in November and neither faces a serious challenger, so why are they silent about the terrible problems at the SOTF? They have nothing to fear from voters in their districts, who are about to retain them as their supervisors for another four years, so they should be leading the fight to restore SOTF to functional status.

In Wienerville, there ain't no sunshine.